Something Missing - Sequel
by imgoingtowriteforyoupeople
Summary: It's been three years since the end of the Giant War, three years since their memories were wiped, leaving an empty feeling for those it impacted. Will their determination to find those they miss be enough to break a spell of the gods? Sequel to Lyza K's "Something Missing". Cover Art by Burge on tumblr


**This is a continuation of Lyza K's "Something Missing". I don't own her story, or The Heroes of Olympus and the characters. (Although I love them both dearly.) The style is a bit different, and I also added more Jasper, sue me. I would love to hear your thoughts and criticisms, thank you so much for reading!**

**-Abby**

**ps: *round of applause for Lyza***

* * *

"You know where I've always wanted to go?" Piper said abruptly, lifting her head from Leo's lap. They had been hanging out at the campfire after dinner, like they did every night. He and Piper had never tried dating again, but she was still his best friend.

"Where?" Leo chuckled back.

She smiled and rested her face in her hands. "San Francisco." She sighed happily.

"Huh." Leo thought about that a minute. He thought about the void that had seemed ever-present since the end of the war. He and Piper talked about it every now and then, but they tried to avoid it, as it always seemed to bum them out. It had been three years since the war ended, and he still couldn't remember anything more about the girl with the cinnamon curls, only her golden eyes that swirled like honey when she smiled. He still kept the stick she'd given him safe in his tool belt, wrapped in several layers of plastic and cloth. He knew he didn't have to protect it anymore, but it gave him a clearer conscience.

Leo looked back at Piper, and saw her smile waver. "Doesn't it seem..." she shook her head, smiling again. "I don't know. It just seems connected to this void...Oh, just forget it." She sighed.

After a long silence, Piper spoke up again. "A name keeps coming into my mind," She admitted, looking down.

That surprised Leo, he had thought Piper was lucky. She had told him that she could never remember a face, just the emptiness, and the wrongness she felt when she was with someone else. But a_ name_? This was huge. He looked at her expectantly.

Piper smiled to herself, as she lay back down onto Leo's lap. "Jason."

They sat in silence for a while, but this time, Leo spoke up. "We_ should_ go to San Francisco." He decided.

"Do you think we could _find_ them?" She chuckled. "You're ridiculous."

Leo sighed. "You're probably right." There had been days these past three years, when he wished he could just forget her face. He wished he could just move on with his life. Today had been like that, he could hardly focus.

But after what Piper had said, he couldn't help but think. _Was this some kind of lead?_ San Francisco _did_ seem connected. What if he _could_ find her?

* * *

Hazel knocked on the door of the praetor's barracks, breathing heavily. It was close to curfew, but she knew Jason would be awake.

The door opened. "Hazel?"

"I'm sorry," She apologized. "I know it's late I just needed to talk to you." Hazel had tried to go to bed early. Her headaches had been getting worse and she was hoping to get some shut-eye for once; she had been unsuccessful. It had been three years, and she was still plagued by the emptiness she felt after the war, and not only Frank's death.

Remembering what Reyna had said to her so long ago, she had thought about Jason's announcement he'd made during Senate. Hazel had wondered if Jason was going through something similar, and there were ulterior motives to his solo quest.

The face flashed in her mind again, his curly brown hair and his devilish smile. She put her finger to her temple, wincing.

Jason cocked his head to the side, "Well, what did you need to talk about?"

She took a deep breath. "Why are you _really_ going on the quest into the city, and why did you insist on going alone?"

She was surprised to see Jason blush and avert his eyes. "Look, Hazel, I don't - "

"Reyna told me something after the war." Hazel interrupted. He looked back up at her. "She told me that you two didn't work out because it seemed like..." Hazel hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "Like a part of you was missing."

Jason sighed and motioned for Hazel to come in, and they sat on the couch.

"Piper." Jason said plainly, looking straight into Hazel's golden eyes. "That's all I can remember, is the name, Piper."

"Go on," she encouraged.

He chuckled, "There's nothing else. That's it." His smile faded. "Just a name. I don't know what San Francisco has to do with it either, but I just - "

"Do you think you could find her?"

He threw up his hands in exasperation. "I don't know! I..." He put his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. "I don't even know what she looks like, Hazel."

After a long silence, Hazel spoke up, "All I can remember _is_ a face. He had curly black hair, and when he smiled, he looked like a Latino Christmas elf." She looked down, hiding her smile. she'd never told anyone what the face looked like. "The image has gotten clearer the last of couple years or so, but there's nothing else, just a face."

Jason looked at her sympathetically, and she continued, "I don't know what the city has to do with it either, Jason, but I knew as soon as you mentioned it that it was important." She stared straight into his electric blue eyes. "I need to come with you."

* * *

"I _cannot_ believe you dragged me into this, Valdez..." Piper sighed in displeasure, leaning deeper into the lumpy airplane seat.

Leo wasn't paying attention, as a son of Hephaestus, he was allowed to feel giddy during his first airplane ride. He listened intently to the pilot over loudspeaker and gripped his seat, feeling the mechanisms whir in the inter workings of the plane as it started to leave the ground.

He looked at Piper, suddenly determined, "We're gonna find them, Piper. I know we will."

* * *

Hazel parked the car at the tourist spot. It was across the Golden Gate Bridge, outside the city. There were several sets of binoculars perched on a low, stone wall, where tourists were lined up, posing for pictures with their family and friends.

"You're right," Hazel decided. She looked at Jason, who was sitting in the passenger seat. "This is definitely the place." She sighed and closed her eyes, focusing on the boy's face again, taking back all of the moments she had wished it didn't exist.

They both exited the car and sat on the wall, watching the people come and go. "How long do we wait?" Jason asked after a moment. "I don't even know what I'm looking for, Hazel."

She just exhaled and shot Jason a hopeful look before turning back to the crowd. "You're looking for Piper, of course."

* * *

"Wait," Piper said seriously from the back seat of their taxi. "Turn there, into that tourist stop."

"What? That's not even in the city, Pipes." Leo whined.

"Trust me, Leo." She turned back toward the front. "Just pull in there, thanks." Leo looked at her suspiciously as the driver turned into the lot. Piper paid the driver and thanked him.

When she got out of the car, she saw Leo walking blindly toward a girl with chocolate skin and cinnamon curls. She looked exactly like Leo had described. Piper saw the girl smiling at him.

"Leo!" Piper yelled. "Is that her?"

"Hold on a minute, Pipes!" Leo yelled back, his eyes locked on the girl, and Piper couldn't help smiling to herself.

Then Piper saw someone walking toward her. He looked around the same age as Piper, with close-cropped blonde hair, and his eyes were an electric blue. She felt her heart race.

"That boy, talking to Hazel, he called you 'Pipes,'" he noticed. He seemed suspicious at first, but his voice softened when he repeated Piper's nickname, causing her to blush.

"Yeah," She shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "It's short for Piper,"

She grinned nervously and shook her head, wondering why this boy made her so nervous. But when she looked back up at him, she was surprised to see his eyes twinkling and the corners of his mouth turning up. "I'm Jason." He said breathlessly, his grin getting wider.

It took a few seconds for her to process his words, but then she immediately grabbed his face in her hands. "_Jason?_" He put his hands over hers and laughed out loud. She wanted to memorize every detail of his face, how could she have forgotten it for so long?

Suddenly he had his arms around her waist and was lifting her from the ground. She laughed as she kicked her feet back and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in the familiarity of his shoulder.

She decided it was the best place in the world.

* * *

Leo's eyes started scanning the mob of tourists. Why were there so many people here?

Suddenly he spotted a pair of eyes looking at him from on top of a low, stone wall overlooking the view of the bridge. They were attached to a chocolate colored face, framed by a mane of cinnamon curls. She was wearing a loosely fitted purple t-shirt, and a pair of worn, boot cut jeans. Her feet were hanging over the edge of the wall, covered by battered, black converse.

She was studying him shamelessly, staring him up and down. Leo felt his face growing hot. But for an unknown reason he started walking toward her, he felt as if he should know who she was. She got up from the wall and met him halfway. Her eyes...

"Your eyes look like gold," Leo said stupidly. But for some reason it made her smile. His heart did a funny little jump.

Leo heard a voice not far behind him yell, "Leo! Is that her?" It was Piper.

Leo didn't take his eyes from the girl as he yelled back at Piper, telling her to hold on. The girl scrunched her eyebrows and cocked her head. She was really cute, but that wasn't a realization to Leo, just something he'd observed before. Although that didn't keep his heart from performing a series of jumping jacks.

"Your name is Leo." She said it as more of a statement than a question.

Leo nodded. He gulped and reached into his tool belt, pulling out the bundle of cloth and unwrapping it slowly. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth hung open. "I... I gave that to you, didn't, I?" She said breathlessly.

Leo nodded again and held out the unwrapped, charred stick for her to take. He held his breath.

She reached out both of her hands and took the stick from Leo, her fingers brushing with his. She closed her eyes and clutched the stick to her chest, exhaling deeply.

When she opened them again, they were swirling around like honey, just like he'd remembered.

Suddenly the girl reached up with one of her hands, the other still clutching her chest. She started tracing the outlines of Leo's face with her finger. He didn't flinch, but he thought his nose was going to burst into flame. Dropping her hand from his face, the girl suddenly said, "I'm Hazel." She scrunched her eyebrows again. "But I think you know that."

And Leo did know that. "I think I missed you," Leo blurted out. His temperature kept rising.

"I think I missed you too, Leo." Hazel smiled at him.

This time, his nose _did_ burst into flame. He quickly put it out, hoping he didn't attract the attention of any of the tourists. But then he heard Hazel laughing, and he couldn't help but smile back.

He had decided it was the best sound in the world.


End file.
